Vote on political party ban set for June

Ugandans will decide on 30 June whether the country should return to multiparty politics, which were banned 19 years ago when President Yoweri Museveni took power, government spokesman Nsaba Buturo told IRIN. "On 30 June, we shall have a referendum in the entire country, with a specific question about changing the political system," Buturo said on Thursday. He said the Prime Minister, Apollo Nsibambi, had notified the Speaker of Parliament on 18 February that a new political timetable had been drawn up ahead of next year's general elections. Museveni barred parties from active participation in politics when he came to power in 1986, following a five-year guerrilla war. After the June referendum, Ugandans will vote for a president, legislators and district council heads between 12 February and 12 March 2006. The nomination of candidates was scheduled for December this year. The government has presented to parliament proposals to amend the country's constitution to allow for the return of a multiparty system, and for the introduction of a federal arrangement where districts would come together to form a regional government with some powers delegated by the central government. Known as the Constitution (Amendment) Bill 2005, the proposed revision would also repeal a provision in the law that limits a president to two five-year terms, allowing Museveni to seek re-election in next year's polls. The repeal of term limits, according to the constitution, could be adopted by a two-thirds majority vote of the 294-member parliament, while a return to multiparty politics must be approved by a majority of Ugandan voters in the national referendum. The current constitution came into force in 1995 and the first presidential election under it, which Museveni won, was held a year later. In 2001, Museveni won what would have been his second and last term. The president has not publicly said whether he will seek another term, but his close political allies have been advocating the proposed constitutional changes for some time.